Woo Hoo!!!!!!

[Hooligan]

I did it!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!! I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!

[suzy253, RN]

Congratulations!!!!! :biggringi

[DolphinRN84, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

Congratulations new RN!!! :monkeydance:

[loubio]

congratulations nurse bean!!!

now that you've passed the boards, any words of wisdom for those who are struggling to keep awake trying to study for this exam? what do you think helped you pass? was it doing questions from kaplan? or knowing the lab values..how about the signs and symptoms of popular diseases? also side effects of meds and the likes...geeeez i only have 5 days to go before i take the exam and im in a whirlwind now cos im trying to figure out how to spend my last 5 days...i tell you i cant afford to just sit down and relax cos i think i still have a lot to cover....pls pls pls advice....thanks!!! :monkeydance:

[Hooligan]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

Loubio, I didn't take an offical review course or anything like that (I couldn't afford to) but I bought the Saunder's NCLEX-RN Review Book and highly reccomend it. I also had the Princeton Review Books but I hated them and bought Saunder's instead. I tried to spend at least 2 hours per day reviewing but in all honesty, that didn't happen with a 1-1/2 year old running around. I did probably spend on average 6 hours a week for about a month. The week before the exam, I started to freak out because my hubby was on-call the whole week for work which means he's essentially not home for a week to help with the rugrat. I basically took the whole week off from studying and just relaxed...surprizingly, my anxiety level dropped immensely and I didn't freak out again until AFTER the exam was over. To me, the Saunder's review questions were much harder than the NCLEX. On my exam, I had some pharm, and questions with labs in them but for the most part, I had a lot of delegation and priority questions. Oh, and commumication questions too which I hate...

Oh, I also bought a 250 question alternate format book that had NCLEX style questions that were only alternate format. Which was a godsend because I think I had like 6 choose all that apply questions....

The week before your test, I personally would reccoment just answering test style questions. Don't try to re-learn everything you studied in school...It will just overwhelm you....I took a year off of school right before my last semester due to complications with my pregnancy and felt that I needed to review everything...I tried that and only ended up freaking myself out and jumbling all my facts because I was so worried. When people say you have the knowledge base from school, it's true. You basically apply the knowledge you gained in school...you know...you use those "critical thinking" skills they beat you over the head with. You're not expected to regurgitate nursing facts. Does any of this help?

[RNKay31]

YAAAY! Congratulations:monkeydance: :monkeydance: :monkeydance:

[raremoon22]

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :smiley_aa

[blessed1702]

Conratulations! By the way, your study time to prepare for the NCLEX sounds sooooo familiar-I have a 2yo! I'll be taking the exam Oct 4th. I'll keep on praying and studying good luck in your nursing career!

[hlfpnt, BSN, RN]

Congratulations!!!

[Paleobug]

Congratulations!:biggringi

[loubio]

thank you! thank you! thank you!!!

loubio, i didn't take an offical review course or anything like that (i couldn't afford to) but i bought the saunder's nclex-rn review book and highly reccomend it. i also had the princeton review books but i hated them and bought saunder's instead. i tried to spend at least 2 hours per day reviewing but in all honesty, that didn't happen with a 1-1/2 year old running around. i did probably spend on average 6 hours a week for about a month. the week before the exam, i started to freak out because my hubby was on-call the whole week for work which means he's essentially not home for a week to help with the rugrat. i basically took the whole week off from studying and just relaxed...surprizingly, my anxiety level dropped immensely and i didn't freak out again until after the exam was over. to me, the saunder's review questions were much harder than the nclex. on my exam, i had some pharm, and questions with labs in them but for the most part, i had a lot of delegation and priority questions. oh, and commumication questions too which i hate...

oh, i also bought a 250 question alternate format book that had nclex style questions that were only alternate format. which was a godsend because i think i had like 6 choose all that apply questions....

the week before your test, i personally would reccoment just answering test style questions. don't try to re-learn everything you studied in school...it will just overwhelm you....i took a year off of school right before my last semester due to complications with my pregnancy and felt that i needed to review everything...i tried that and only ended up freaking myself out and jumbling all my facts because i was so worried. when people say you have the knowledge base from school, it's true. you basically apply the knowledge you gained in school...you know...you use those "critical thinking" skills they beat you over the head with. you're not expected to regurgitate nursing facts. does any of this help?

hi nurse bean!!

thanks for your advice....the amount of time you studied is just awesome..considering that you were just doing 6 hours of study time in a week plus the fact that you have a cutie little rugrat in your home!!! i have friends here in the philippines who review for like 4-5 months and thats full time..you know like 8 hours a day...its amazing how they can keep up with that. i definitely cant, so im really amazed.

like you, i also have not gone to a formal review class, i just used saunders compre and the kaplan trainers. did not really finish saunders, i guess i read about 3/4 of the book...then i took kaplan to test my critical thinking skills. i do agree with your idea of spending my last 5 days just practicing questions...i realize that that would put me into the nclex mode..so now, even if i still feel i have not covered everything, i guess i would just have to trust my gut and the lord on this...like most nclex takers say, "you can never be ready" oh myyyyy....

5 days more to go, today, i had a full body massage..gosh i needed that..and just to let you know it only costs $6 dollars here in the philippines...hahaha ..tomorrow im having my nails done....just trying to relax myself a bit before the big day...

thanks so much for your input, helped me to decide on what to do...

lou